Different Shades
by Lightningthesky
Summary: -2 part Oneshot- Everything has changed since she woke up, including her feelings. Prologue to Chaotic Exception. Because we need more Lightning x Vanille in-game
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything; all rights and property goes to Square Enix!**

_Prologue to Chaotic Exception, a FFXIII-2 LxV story_

Vanille sighed as she stood on the crumbled bricks that led into the water. So much had changed since she and Fang had last been here and now they had to leave it yet again. She glanced to the rusted bridge, she could spot the silhouettes of her teammates from here. Vanille could also identify the large aircraft that was transporting them back to Cocoon, to Eden. Barthandelus's ploys had unsettled them, but at least they got something out of it. She squinted, though Fang and Lightning were both missing.

Fang was probably at their old home, saying her farewells as well, _. . then where's Light?_ She shook her head, the soldier probably needed space after that stunt the Fal'Cie had pulled. She had only met the younger pinkette once before so she couldn't really vouch for it, but she had been tricked when she saw Serah's apparition. She had also saw the hurt on Snow's face and in Lightning's eyes.

Lightning didn't react to much, but her eyes always showed everything. Just the different hues, Vanille had learned could give away or at least hint as to what the soldier was feeling. They grew to a darker shade when Lightning was angry, most of the time thanks to Snow calling her 'sis'. A clouded gray would show she was in thought or upset. Normally they were just her normal icy, pale blues, holding the rest of her emotions she didn't show. _Not the rest, _Vanille corrected herself, _I've never seen them when she's happy, I've never saw her happy._ Every now and then they would brighten when Hope did something she was proud of, but never had she saw Lightning truly happy.

Vanille tilted her head as she watched the glittering waters, _maybe I could make her-_ She shook her head and mentally slapped herself, _I shouldn't think of Lightning like that, especially not now! _No, they didn't have anytime to be exploring any possibilities with their lives on the line. She put a hand over her brand, they were running on empty and time was of the essence. She couldn't be distracted, nor could she distract any of the others with simple crushes. No one was going to get hurt this time and she would make sure of it.

_Like Lightning would feel anything for me anyway, _she thought as she kicked a stray rock into the water. It wasn't like she had anything to offer anyway, the soldier would have everything she needed once she got her sister back. Lightning was strong, beautiful and determined; why would she need her? She was a soldier who thrived on being independent and didn't want anyone to tag along.

The clicking of boots alerted her to someone approaching and she turned around. Lightning stood, her eyes a stormy grey and Vanille knew she was thinking about Serah. She smiled and Lightning just nodded before walking up beside her. There was a hum of a machine and she looked down to see Bhakti following Lightning and stopping beside the soldier's foot.

"It's almost time to leave, I thought you would like to say goodbye to him", Lightning said and nudged the little robot towards her.

She bent down and patted Bhakti's head, "Ah! Thanks Lightning, I almost forgot to say bye to him."

Lightning gave her another curt nod and resumed scanning the waters. She whispered a goodbye to Bhakti and the little robot rolled away. She giggled as it tried to get up the hill, taking many attempts to pick up speed before it was successful. She turned to face the water and clasped her hands behind her back.

"Do you miss it?", she asked Lightning, seeing the soldier was now gazing at Cocoon.

Lightning's head dropped and she instantly shook it, "No, I couldn't go back now that I know what's been going on. I'm just thinking about how to get into Eden unnoticed."

Vanille giggled, "Charge in guns blazing?"

Lightning chuckled quietly, "Not what I was thinking, but it'll probably happen that way anyway."

Vanille glanced at the soldier again to see she had resumed gazing up at the small planet. _I have the feeling that's not what she's thinkin' about._ She cautiously leaned her head and Lightning's shoulder, feeling her tense at first from the contact.

"We'll get Serah back, don't worry", she said, attempting to lighten the soldier's mood.

Lightning scoffed, "So she can go marry that idiot."

She giggled at Lightning's blunt tone, "Just think, if we don't destroy the whole world, ya still got me!"

Lightning looked down at her and she flinched, "I-I mean _us_! You still have all of us, but I guess I'm apart of that, so then you would have me, so that would make my whole sentence beforehand and this one-"

She stopped when Lightning's shoulders started to shake and removed her head off of Lightning. She looked up to see the soldier shaking her head and laughing quietly. Vanille's face started to heat up, but she was secretly glad she had gotten the soldier to laugh. The soldier's eyes were now a bright cerulean.

"H-hey! Quit that Light!", she pouted.

Lightning smirked at her, her quiet laughter suppressed, "Sorry, you just started rambling and I found it cu-funny."

Lightning's eye had twitched for a moment as she corrected herself, almost making Vanille want to giggle. _Was she about to call me _cute_?_ Vanille shook her head, _probably just a slip of the tongue._ Her thoughts were pushed at the back of her mind as a figure started waving at them on the bridge overhead. She could faintly hear Snow yelling for them to come on and Lightning frowned in irritation.

She grabbed the soldier's hand to pull her away from the water's edge, enjoying the stunned look on the soldier's face, "Lets go!"

She was ecstatic when she felt Lightning grip her hand back, adding a light pressure to keep their hands together.

**Author's Note**

This is kind of a little pre-_Chaotic Exception _(my other story; done shamelessly plugging)oneshot; just to show that Lightning and Vanille did have interactions and what not. They barely had any in the game and so I just felt like writing this. Read and review ^.^

More shameless plugging? Hell yes! Go read _Chaotic Exception:_

s/8376098/1/Chaotic_Exception


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything; all rights and property goes to Square Enix!**

_Prologue to Chaotic Exception, a FFXIII-2 LxV story  
_

Lightning tapped her foot impatiently, the rusted metals of the bridge groaning in protest. Her right hand kept making it's way to her gunblade's hilt, griping it to find comfort in the way her hand fit perfectly with it. Snow was being loud, as usual, while Hope and Sazh were shaking their heads at him. _Idiot_, Lightning rolled her eyes and looked for their Puls- _Gran_ Pulsian friends.

"Tch", Lightning muttered to herself, seeing they still weren't in sight.

She was ready, ready to go wipe out anything that came into her path. Barthandelus had left them with a ship and they were going to use it. Truth be told, she didn't care if it was a trap, didn't care if all Cocoon was going to hell. No, she just wanted to try. To _try_ and get her sister back, or at least make her proud by not being some Fal'Cie's tool.

Lightning sighed, but they had to wait for Vanille and Fang to say goodbye to their home. She understood somewhat the need to say goodbye to their town. Not to her own home, she no longer felt anything for Cocoon other than the fact Serah was there. Lightning looked around Oerba, even empty and deserted it was still much more beautiful than Cocoon's false reality. It was so much more. . _real._ That was worth a goodbye, if anything, it was to this wild and untamed land. If she knew what would happen after today and wasn't so afraid of Serah possibly getting hurt, she would bring Serah here.

Lightning had saw the flowers on top of the boat house, _Serah would've liked to see those._

She bit back a growl, _how dare Barthandelus. _That damn Fal'Cie took on her sister's form and it had made her fall still. How much it looked like Serah, how much it hurt, she just couldn't take it. _And then_, Lightning couldn't hold the rumble in her chest when she thought about that apparition using her childhood name. _Sick bastard, _Lightning grunted and kicked at a stray piece of sheet metal.

"Hey sis, do you want me to go see if they're ready to go", Snow asked and gave her that stupid grin.

"I'm not your sister", she snapped and pivoted on her heel to set off in search for the Oerbans.

She ignored any further protest and focused on their friends' house, identifying that it would be the best place to look. Striding up the steps with ease, she hesitantly walked through the door. She didn't want to walk in on the Pulsian's having some heart felt moment, she didn't deal with that very well.

She relaxed when Fang was standing alone, her spear at her side. Making sure Fang heard her, she applied more pressure on her feet to allow her footsteps to thud. Fang glanced over her shoulder and gingerly set down a picture frame.

"Time ta go?"

She nodded, trying not to notice Fang's bloodshot eyes. Fang didn't need her pointing out any weakness, the tribeswoman had seen hers on the bridge with 'Serah'. The lancer sighed and nodded, her grip on her spear tightening.

"Just. . give me another few minutes. Go 'head and find 'Nille for me, yeah?", Fang smirked at her and straightened, trying to gather herself.

"Right", she gave a curt nod and started to walk out the door when a little hulk of metal hit her foot.

Fang laughed when she scowled at the small robot, "He's probably mad that Vanille didn't say goodbye to 'em, poor girl didn't even wanna come in here. She's probably at the water. . "

Lightning grunted and tossed her head to Bhakti to follow her, "I'll take him, she probably wants to and just forgot."

She glided down the steps and surveyed the area for the perky redhead. The robot seemed to know exactly what part of the water Fang had spoken of as it rolled past her. She was surprised that Vanille hadn't said farewell to the robot after how attached she seemed to it.

A ghost of a smile past her lips as she thought of how those green eyes had lit up when they fixed the robot. The girl was easy to cheer up, she could redirect her focus on anything to 'lose herself in happier days' as she called it. At first it had reminded Lightning of Snow's endless optimism, but now. . _it keeps _me _going._

Lightning shook her head and corrected herself rapidly, _us going, keeps us going. _She huffed in irritation, she had found herself thinking things like that lately and it was becoming a nuisance. _It's inappropriate on every level_, she scolded herself. She could ignore it, but that didn't mean it wasn't there.

It was those damn eyes of hers. They were always such a bright emerald, they glittered with happiness almost always. Lightning could tell though when they were a fake happiness. It sometimes would just be a shade darker or even not their usual sparkle that could hint to her how the redhead was feeling. For some reason it would tug on her heart if she didn't see that sparkling forest green gaze.

Lightning heart sped up when she spotted the redhead on the crumbled bricks, staring off at the water. She chastised herself again, _get a grip soldier. _Lightning narrowed her eyes as Vanille kicked a rock into the water and huffed. Once again allowing herself to be heard, she approached the redhead. The girl turned around with a smile and Lightning fought the urge to smile too, _maybe it's just a need to protect her, like Serah. _She gave a stiff nod and more or less kicked the robot to her.

"It's almost time to leave, I thought you would like to say goodbye to him", she stated as the girl kneeled down to it.

She patted the top of the robot; what Lightning assumed you could call it's head, but it all seemed like a square box to her, "Ah! Thanks Lightning, I almost forgot to say bye to him."

All she could do was nod and then settle her gaze on the glittering waters. Her ears pricked when she heard Vanille's whispers to the robot and a giggle. Vanille walked up beside her and put her hands behind her back. Lightning swallowed and looked up to the orb floating in the sky, doing anything to avoid the redhead's eyes.

Vanille hummed beside her before asking a question, "Do you miss it?"

"No, I couldn't go back now that I know what's been going on. I'm just thinking about how to get into Eden unnoticed", she covered quickly and looked down from Cocoon.

"Charge in guns blazing?", Vanille suggested with another giggle.

She bit back a scoff and ended up letting a small laugh escape her, "Not what I was thinking, but it'll probably happen that way anyway."

Her eyes were drawn back up onto the sphere in the sky, immediately thinking of Serah. How would her sister feel about everything she's done since she turned to crystal? She couldn't imagine her sister's reaction to how many lives she has taken, but she all of a sudden felt guilty for that not being her top priority. Her main concern was would her sister forgive her for those harsh words she had yelled?

Lightning thoughts slammed to a halt as Vanille's head came into contact with her shoulder. She fought the instinct to pull away, but her muscles still remained coiled and ready to run.

"We'll get Serah back, don't worry", the redhead head murmured, in an attempt to . . _comfort_ her?

_What happens then though_, Lightning thought as she scoffed, "So she can go marry that idiot."

"Just think, if we don't destroy the whole world, ya still got me!", Vanille giggled beside her, shaking her shoulder slightly.

Her words hit Lightning like cold water, _I've still got. . _her? She spared a glance down from Cocoon to look at the Oerban beside her. Vanille's bright eyes widened when she realized her words.

Vanille winced, "I-I mean _us_! You still have all of us, but I guess I'm a part of that, so then you would have me, so that would make my whole sentence beforehand and this one-"

Lightning would never admit it, but she laughed.

The girl just started ranting and was about to go full circle with her sentence, getting the best of her; she laughed. Vanille recoiled away from her and a spark flared in those green eyes for a moment, like she had achieved something. Vanille gave her a fake pout and Lightning's couldn't ignore the ache in her heart.

"H-hey! Quit that Light!"

It was just so, so. . _cute?_ Lightning bit her lip at even thinking such a thing, but it was so accurate. It halted her laughing as she thought about the redhead. There would be no time for anything to happen and she doubted Vanille felt the same anyway. It was stupid for her to feel this way and there would be no reason to voice her feelings. It made her feel so weak though, _no one trains a soldier what to do about this. _

Vanille still stared at her and she smirked, "Sorry, you just started rambling and I found it cu-funny."

She felt her eye twitch involuntary and she stumbled as she tried to correct herself. _Now I can't even sort out my thoughts from what I actually should say!_ She had the feeling Vanille wanted to laugh at her now from the amusement in her eyes.

Her attention was, thankfully, pulled from that gaze as yelling assaulted her ears. She glanced up at the bridge the see the blonde behemoth waving at them. A frown crossed her features, _damn you Snow._

"Lets go!", Vanille innocently grabbed her hand and tugged it.

She was stunned and her body reacted to grip Vanille's hand back; her brain and heart in conflicting arguments. For once she ignored the urge to release the girl's hand as they ran to the bridge and basked in the feeling rushing over her.

**Author's Note**

I know I said I wouldn't add anything, but then I felt like I should write Lightning's POV on all this. This is kind of a little pre-_Chaotic Exception _(my other story; done shamelessly plugging)oneshot; just to show that Lightning and Vanille did have interactions and what not. They barely had any in the game and I needed a short break from writing my other story, something short. Read and review ^.^

More shameless plugging? Hell yes! Go read _Chaotic Exception:_

s/8376098/1/Chaotic_Exception

_No one ever seems to try and look for a Lanille story in the ffxiii-2 category! :D_


End file.
